World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria
Mists of Pandaria is a name trademarkedTrademark filing info from MMO Champion by Blizzard Entertainment that will be the next expansion"World of Warcraft: Intro to Mists of Pandaria" preview panel (featuring Tom Chilton, Game Director; Cory Stockton , Lead Content Designer; and Greg Street, Lead Systems Designer) at BlizzCon 2011 after Cataclysm. MMO Champion speculated that it could be the name for the next expansion and turned out to be correct. Kotaku pointed out that a similar early registration of "Cataclysm" turned out to be the new expansion name. MMO Champion's speculation that it might be the next expansion was met by skepticism by several media outlets. |date=9-Aug-2011 9:00AM}} 1UP actually tried to contact Blizzard about this and the reply was "not ready to reveal any details at this time". Strangely, a gaming and technology blogger said that there was a leak about the next expansion being focused on the island of Pandaria back in March 2011. Finally, Medievaldragon of Blizzplanet wrote a very nice, comprehensive article about the speculation surrounding the rumors and Pandaria in general. Debunked? Blizzplanet interpreted a brief comment by Tom Chilton as potentially debunking Mists of Pandaria as the new expansion, something upcoming in World of Warcraft, or something like that (it was all pretty vague). The interpretation turned out not to be a debunking and apparently just vague. BlizzCon 2011 announcement At BlizzCon 2011, Mists of Pandaria was announced as the fourth expansion to the World of Warcraft series. The expansion is set to include a new race for both factions, the Pandaren, as well as a new playable class, the Monk. Other features include a new talent tree system, challenge mode dungeons and a revival of classic Horde versus Alliance warfare. The Continent of Pandaria Players will discover a new continent of Pandaria with a rich new source of creatures, environments, and lore. * A mobile starting zone for the new player race. ** The Wandering Isle - New Pandaren starting zone. * 5 new level-up zones (most will be as large as Twilight Highlands or larger). ** The Jade Forest - Eastern and beginning zone. ** Valley of the Four Winds - Southern zone. ** Townlong Steppes - Western zone. ** Kun-Lai Summit - Northern zone. ** Vale of Eternal Blossoms - Central zone. * Single, unified continent. * Asian landscape influenced look. * AH, bank, and central questing hub. * No flying until max level. * Magically hidden since The Sundering. ** Cataclysm cleared the mist. ** Discovered by refugees from Alliance vs. Horde naval battle nearby. ** Two factions plan to exploit the continent. * No sanctuary city: separate player hubs for Alliance and Horde. Zarhym|date=27-Oct-2011 6:15 PM PDT}} Zarhym|date=27 Oct 2011 22:22 UTC}} Pandarens The expansion will introduce a new playable Pandaren race that will be available to both factions. * The Wandering Isle starting zone is actually a giant turtle! * Pandaren characters will start out Neutral and choose either Alliance or Horde at level 10. * Pandarens will be able to be the following classes: Monk, Mage, Priest, Hunter, Rogue, Warrior, and Shaman. Monks A new class: *Monks will now be a selectable class for the following races: Pandaren, Dwarf, Human, Draenei, Gnome, Night Elf, Orc, Tauren, Blood Elf, Undead, Troll. *Monks will use Cloth and Leather items. *Monks can use the following weapons: Hands and feet, Fist Weapons, One-Handed Axes, One-Handed Maces, One-Handed Swords, Polearms, and Staves. Talent revamp This expansion will make dramatic changes to how the talent system works that Blizzard is calling "Talents 2.0". * No talent points or ranks. * One talent tree per class. * Earn talents every 15 levels, but spec abilities may be available every 10 levels or so. * Every talent addition you can choose 1 of 3 and you can't change it without a fresh re-spec. * No mandatory talents. * Change talents as easily as glyphs. * Talents that appear to have the same name as existing abilities may have dramatically changed in effect. Scenarios Re-use old content in new ways. * Short instances for a few players (less than 5). * Staged experience - somewhat like linked shared quests. * "PvE Battlegrounds" - Battleground like encounters, but vs. environment mobs/NPCs instead of other players. * No player collision. * Could replace group quests. * Queue and go, like Dungeon Finder. * No role requirements with the intent of short queues. * One of the many options to earn Valor points. Challenge Mode dungeons ;Main points: * Intended for max-level dungeons. * Will be available through the Dungeon Finder as well * Complete a dungeon in X minutes. * Gear levels are normalized - gear would scale to a standard level (item level flattening?). * PvE competition * Guild challenges tracking. ;Rewards: * Will earn Bronze, Silver, and Gold medals * Rewards sweet looking gear with no stats. Looking at vanity gear, and gear intended for use in the Transmogrification system. * Plus Valor points! * Bragging rights & Leaderboards * Possible stacking debuff for future runs upon successful completion New and updated dungeons New for expansion and updates of classics: * 9 new dungeons ** 6 dungeons across Pandaria *** Temple of the Jade Serpent - One of the first Pandaria dungeons players will encounter to clear the Sha. It will be an indoor/outdoor dungeon. The main force to be reckoned with here is the Sha of Doubt. *** Stormstout Brewery - One of the dungeons within Pandaria, players are tasked with assisting Chen Stormstout in reclaiming his family heritage. The Brewery has been overtaken by the Verming and Hozu. *** Shado-pan Monastery - An outdoor dungeon located atop Kun-Lai Summit. It is home to the Shado-pan Clan, ninja-like pandaren dedicated to protecting their homeland. The Monastery has been taken by the Sha. *** ... *** ... *** ... ** Heroic updates of classic favorites, though the lower level versions will still be available: *** Scholomance - streamlined layout *** Scarlet Monastery redone as 2 wings: graveyard and cathedral combined, library and armory combined New raids New raids: * 3 new raids **Mogu'Shan Palace - six bosses, primarily feature the Mogu; located in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms ** ... * Featuring two new enemy races: Mogu and Mantid * Raid Finder for all raids plus Normal mode and Heroic mode difficulties. * World raid bosses return! Questing Quest generalities: * Increased focus on max level content. ** Multiple hubs. ** Incentives for dungeon runners and raiders (like special buffs or Valor points). * More quest choices to feel less linear. * No flying until max level to control questing experience better. * Faction improvements by giving more ways to earn items with less grind. PvP New battlegorunds with new styles of play: * New battlegrounds. ** Stranglethorn Diamond Mines - Payload *** Goblin mine below Northern Stranglethorn. *** Payload style gameplay. **** Escort mine cars to depot. **** Multiple tracks. **** First to X resources wins. ** Valley of Power - Murderball *** Located in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms with the goal of getting an ancient Mogu artifact. *** Murberball style gameplay **** Holding the object earns points. **** Multiple point zones. **** Object does damage to holder. **** Damage increases over time. ** Azshara Crater - DOTA *** "Defense of the Ancients" style gameplay **** ? * New arena ** Tol'vir Proving Grounds **** Located in Uldum. **** Simple layout based on Nagrand arena. **** Sense of place in the world and fits in environment. Pet Battle System New mechanics and expanded play for companions: * Collect, level and battle with companion pets! * Accessible to all players. * Works with almost every pet. * Customize your pets (naming, looks, and abilities). * Wild pets! - to fight with your existing pets to acquire them. ** They will have random stats and abilities. ** May only be available during certain times under certain conditions. * Pet Journal. * Most pets will become tradable. * Account wide pets. Leveling pets * Win battles to earn experience. * Learn new abilities (up to 3). * Create builds using abilities. * Increase stats. * Level multiple pets to build a team of up to 3 pets. Battling pets * PvE & PvP battles. * Turn based combat. * Simple combat system. * Fight with a team of 3 pets. * Queuing system. Customizing pets * Name yout pets * Items for pets * Builds & teams * Masters & Master abilities Achievements Upcoming changes: * Account wide achievements. Class changes Class changes and overall character structure changes: * Resilience - Created a barrier to entry for PvE players to get into competitive battlegrounds. ** Will work more like a base stat and be gained every level. * Ranged weapons ** Hunter minimum range - Gone! ** Hunter melee weapons - Gone!! ** Ranged slot for all other classes - Gone! ** Relics - Gone! ** Rogue and warrior can throw melee weapons (thrown weapons - Gone?). ** Wands become main hand weapons. * Warlocks ** Unique resource for every spec *** Affliction - Soul Shards *** Demonology - Demonic Fury *** Destruction - Infernal Embers * Shamans ** Buff totems - Gone! ** All totems are about utility. ** New totem examples: *** Earthgrab Totem - roots. *** Repulsion Totem - repels. *** Bulwark Totem - absorbs. * Druids ** Now with 4 specs! *** Feral - cat (melee DPS) *** Guardian - bear (tanking) ** Some overlap ** All druids can still use bear and cat forms. * All classes ** Spellbooks cleaned up. ** Rotations improved. ** Automatically learn spells (no need to see trainer). ** Several new spells. ** Specs more developed and attempt to make talents more fun. Guilds * New guild levels and perks. Perks may include reduced cost for Transmogrification and Void Storage. References See also * User blog:Raylan13/BlizzCon 2011 Coverage (content) * World of Warcraft: Cataclysm * World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King * World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade * World of Warcraft External links ;Official ;News Aug 9th 2011 at 9:00AM}} Aug 2nd 2011 at 8:32PM}} ;Lore Aug 7th 2011 at 6:00PM}} Aug 7th 2011 at 6:00PM}} Aug 7th 2011 at 6:00PM}} Category:Blizzard Entertainment